It was not until the final days of the 2016 presidential campaign that Republican candidate Donald Trump finally found his voice – and the MSM establishment, the country’s elite political class and the national polls totally missed what the American public heard.

As an outsider candidate from the outset, Trump was dismissed by a rabid opposition as a racist, from the lunatic fringe with a dictatorial penchant and little intellectual capacity, especially in the early days of the Republican primary. Not a cultivated speaker with well thought out ideas or expressed opinions, the political establishment of both parties openly scorned his ‘Make America Great Again” slogan just as he was dismissed for being a dangerous isolationist for “Putting America First” but Trump knew he was speaking to an angry, alienated American public.

And there will be those liberal Americans like Juan Williams of Fox News, locked in their own sense of superiority, who will never, ever be able to see Trump as anything but a crude, misogynist thug. Like it or not, he is now the President- elect.

As the campaign headed into its final days, Trump became a more disciplined, focused candidate as he stepped into the role of being President, frequently citing the need to ‘drain the swamp’ and end the corruption in Washington ; manifesting as an unconventional leader the American public had not seen in decades. Millions of Americans, devastated by NAFTA and the 2008 economic collapse, instinctively knew what he was talking about.

Unlike his status quo Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, Trump understood, as Bernie Sanders did, what Americans meant when 63% agreed that the country was going in the ‘wrong direction’ and that it disapproved of Congress by an overwhelming 76%.

These are not new statistics; they have been public knowledge for at least the last decade but on Tuesday evening, the privileged MSM media class and its partisan pundits were in shock and dismay as an unanticipated earthquake shook their self imposed stagnation. Rachel Maddow and Chris Matthews of MSNBC’s media elite did not take the shock well, blaming the loss of Florida on the marginal campaigns of Gary Johnson and Jill Stein, only to be followed by Julian Assange and Vladimir Putin. As if the Democrats deserved some sort of entitlement from voters, Matthews bemoaned “which side are you on?” They have obviously not read the Wikileaks emails with their names on the ‘rsvp’ list.

As the votes began to be counted Tuesday evening with discussion on a strong Hispanic turnout taking Trump down in Florida and what appeared to be a less than enthusiastic show of support from African Americans for HRC, the inevitable question that never gets asked is why the country’s ethnic minorities buy into the notion that the Democrats, after decades of benign neglect, deserve their votes.

As some African-American leaders like Van Jones lament Trump’s election, why do Democrats deserve the eternal electoral support of the black community when it was Bill Clinton’s ‘welfare reform’ which threw millions of poor. single black and white moms and their kids off Federal assistance? When was the last time the Black Congressional Caucus stood up for their constituency and refused to rollover for the party hierarchy or its current White House occupant?

Why should blue collar workers support a Wall Street friendly Democratic candidate when it was a Democratic President that pushed NAFTA through Congress, taking with it millions American manufacturing jobs?

Why should those Americans dispossessed by the 2008 economic disaster who lost their homes, their jobs and/or their health care ever again vote for a callous Democratic candidate?

Why should the Hispanic community support the Democratic candidate when a newly inaugurated Democrat in the White House and a Democratic Senate bungled approval of the DREAM Act in 2009? Why should the Hispanic community support a Democratic party after the President they supported in 2008 deported up to two million of its citizens?

To suggest that Trump’s stunning victory which crossed partisan lines in important states included a sweep of State House races around the country and a Republican Congress has left the Democratic party in shambles is an understatement but as the dust settles and the fig leaf of reform fades, the Democrats can be expected to continue living in the past as it rests on the laurals of the New Deal almost one hundred years ago.

To their credit, American voters saw through the inflammatory and provocative headlines of ‘blame it on the Russians’ and decades old sexual misbehavior for what they were; diversions from their real experience of chronic unemployment, spiraling government (and personal) debt, needless wars returning their children maimed for life, a corrupt economic system and a federal government not serving the needs of the public. As Trump said during an eloquent and gracious election night victory statement:

“The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer. We are going to fix our inner cities and rebuild our highways, bridges, tunnels, airports, schools, hospitals. We’re going to rebuild our infrastructure, “

“I’m reaching out to you for your guidance and your help so that we can work together and unify our great country.”

“I want to tell the world community that while we will always put America’s interests first, we will deal fairly with everyone, with everyone. All people and all other nations. We will seek common ground, not hostility, partnership, not conflict. … we will get along with all other nations, willing to get along with us.”

During the campaign, it was essential for the MSM to gloss over the truth of Trump’s policy positions as it quite efficiently convinced great multitudes of American voters that Trump was an embarrassment and lacking temperament – rather than acknowledge a dramatic departure in establishment institutional policy that terrified the elites, lest the repudiation of American globalization policies seep into the public consciousness.

The morning after the election, Rep. Paul Ryan and other Republicans, many of whom had not supported Trump, wrapped their collective arms around the new President as if to claim his victory for their own. Once the Republican euphoria fades, it will be fascinating to observe how the new President responds to the public’s intense dissatisfaction with the political status quo which finds expression within the Republican political agenda. Will Trump, who has proven resilient against everything that HRC and the Democrats threw at him, remain strong-willed and independent as the Republican establishment, as much a part of the stench in Washington as the Democrats, attempt to marginalize his efforts with petty partisan demands?

Or will Congressional Republicans reinvent themselves to follow Trump’s anti war lead, negotiations with Putin, reexamining the Fed Bank and the need for NATO, returning American jobs to America and continue the much needed national debate on government ethics and corruption. If not, how long will it take for a coordinated MSM/financial/surveillance industry coordination to savage Trump just as they undermined US relations with Russia.

While Trump is an unconventional Republican (once a registered Democrat), how will he deal with Sheldon Adelson multi million dollar contribution and a Zionist son-in-law when it comes to Israel’s demands on US foreign policy?

Renee Parsons has been a member of the ACLU’s Florida State Board of Directors and president of the ACLU Treasure Coast Chapter. She has been an elected public official in Colorado, an environmental lobbyist and staff member of the US House of Representatives in Washington DC. She can be found on Twitter @reneedove31